Abstract. Tarraf SA, Talaat IM, El-Sayed AEB, Balbaa LK. 2015. Influence of foliar application of algae extract and amino acids mixture on fenugreek plants in . Two pot experiments were conducted to study the effect of foliar application of algae extract and amino acids mixture on the growth and chemical constituents of fenugreek plants (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.). Plants were sprayed with different concentrations of algae extract (0.0, 2.5, 5.0 g/L) or equivalent of amino acids mixture (0.0, 0.625, 1.25 g/L). The results indicated that foliar application of amino acids mixture enhanced the vegetative growth of fenugreek plants, especially when plants were sprayed with 1.25 g/L amino acids mixture. Data also show that total nitrogen, essential oil percentage and yield followed the same trend. These results hold true for plants cultivated in either clay soil or sandy soil.Data also indicated that foliar application of algae extract to fenugreek plants significantly increased plant height, number of leaves, number of branches and fresh and dry weights of plant at vegetative growth stage and flowering stage of fenugreek plant, especially in plants treated with 5 g/L algae extract in sandy and clay soils, respectively. Treatment of fenugreek plants with algae extract markedly increased nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium contents, especially at 5 g/L.

The effects of foliar application of different concentrations of amino acids (tyrosine and phenylalanine) and phenolic acids (trans-cinnamic acid, benzoic acid and salicylic acid) on growth, pigment content, hormones levels and essential oil content of Ammi visnaga L were carried out during two successive seasons. It is clear that foliar application of either amino acids or phenolics significantly promoted the growth parameters in terms of shoot height, fresh and dry biomass, number of branches and number of umbels per plant. The increment of growth parameter was associated with elevated levels of growth promoters (IAA, GA3, total cytokinins) and low level of ABA. The greatest increase in the previously mentioned parameters was measured in plants exposed to different concentrations of phenols particularly in benzoic acid-treated plants. Such effect was concentration dependent. All treatments led to significant increments in yield seeds and oil content. Moreover, gas liquid chromatographic analysis revealed that the main identified components of essential oil were 2,2-dimethyl butanoic acid, isobutyl isobutyrate, α-isophorone, thymol, fenchyl acetate and linalool. Phenolics and amino acid treatments resulted in qualitative differences in these components of essential oil.

Background Chitosan and Ca+ are natural signal molecules that can be used in agriculture as biostimulants and elicitors. They enhance different physiological responses and mitigate the negative effects of salinity. So, this investigation was done to study the effect of soaking wheat grains in chitosan and CaCO3 (20 and 40 mg/L) on alleviating the adverse effect of salinity stress (0.0 and 5000 mg/L) on growth, some biochemical and physiological and yields of wheat plant. Results Shoot length (cm), leaves no/tiller, shoot dry weight (g), root fresh weight (g) and root dry weight (g) were significantly decreased as a result of salt stress. Soaking wheat grains in Chitosan or CaCO3 significantly promoted plant growth under normal and stressed conditions. Irrigation of wheat plants with saline water significantly decreased photosynthetic pigments (Chlo-a, Chlo-b, carotenoids and total pigments) in addition to Chlo-a/Chlo-b ratio, indole acetic acid content in the plant leaves. Meanwhile, saline water significantly increased phenolics, total soluble sugars (TSS) and proline content. H2O2 and lipid peroxidation expressed by malondialdehyde (MDA) content clearly showed significant increases under salinity stress compared with untreated control. Soaking wheat grains in chitosan or CaCO3 before sawing significantly increased the accumulation of H2O2 and MDA in the leaves of wheat plants. Treatment of wheat grains with chitosan or CaCO3 significantly promoted the activity of various antioxidant enzymes (SOD and POX) as compared to the control. CAT activity was significantly decreased as a result of chitosan or CaCO3 treatments. The highest CAT activity was recorded in plants irrigated with 5000 mg/L saline water followed by control plants which recoded 36.40 and 24.82 U/min/g FW, respectively. On the other hand, irrigation of wheat plants with 5000 mg/L saline water significantly decreased spike length (cm), spikelets no/spike, grains wt/plant (g), 1000-grains wt (g), yield and biomass/plant (g) as well as, carbohydrate % and protein % compared with the control. However, treating wheat plants either with Chitosan or calcium carbonate resulted in obvious significant increases in carbohydrates and protein contents, especially in plants treated with 40 mg/L chitosan followed by 40 mg/L calcium carbonate. Soaking wheat grains in chitosan, especially at 40 mg/L, exhibited the strongest scavenging potential (2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate assay (DPPH%) followed by treatment with 40 mg/L CaCO3. Conclusion In conclusion, the used treatment enhanced the protective parameters such as antioxidant enzymes, total phenols and free radical scavengers and consequently helped the plants to decrease lipid peroxidation, increased their tolerance and improved yield and spike quality. Application of 40 mg/L chitosan recorded the highest increment in the scavenging ability of the natural antioxidants of the plant extract toward the stable free radical DPPH.

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Abstract. El-Moursi A, Talaat IM, Balbaa LK. 2012. Physiological effect of some antioxidant polyphenols on sweet marjoram (Majorana hortensis) plants. Nusantara Bioscience 4: 11-15. Two pot experiments were conducted in the screen of the National Research Centre, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt to study the physiological effect of foliar application of some antioxidant polyphenols on growth and chemical constituents of sweet marjoram plants (Majorana hortensis L.). Plants were treated with curcuminoids, cinnamic acid and salicylic acid, each at 5 and 10 mg/L except the control plants. The results indicate that foliar application of curcuminoids increased growth parameters under study. Total sugars were also increased as a result of foliar application of curcuminoids. On the other hand, oil %, oil yield, and nitrogen % were decreased as a result of curcuminoids treatments. Cinnamic acid at 5 mg/L resulted in the tallest plants in most cases. Application of cinnamic acid at 10 mg/L significantly increased oil % and total oil yield/plant. Sugar content followed the same trend. Treatment of sweet marjoram plants with salicylic acid significantly increased oil % and oil yield, especially in plants treated with 10 mg/L SA. Total sugars % and total nitrogen % followed the same trend. The main constituents of the plant essential oil were also markedly affected.

Background: Guar is an economic crop due to guar gum which is extracted from seeds and is used in several industries such as food, ink, plastics, pharmaceutical industry, and cosmetics. It can also be used as a cover crop, animal feed, and green manure. L-Tryptophan (L-β-3-indolylalanine) is a precursor of auxin which regulates plant growth and development. Nicotinamide is known as the amide form of vitamin B3. It is a constituent of the pyridine nucleotide coenzymes involved in many enzymatic oxidation-reduction reactions in cells. L-Tryptophan and nicotinamide are used in this study in order to improve guar growth, yield, and chemical constituents of seeds. Results: The highest records of plant height and fresh and dry weights of leaves were recorded for plants treated with 300 mg/l nicotinamide followed by foliar treatment with 300 mg/l tryptophan. Fresh and dry weights of stems, number of pods/plant, fresh and dry weights of pods, pods yield, seeds yield, and straw yield followed the same trend. Total protein in guar seeds was significantly increased due to foliar treatment with tryptophan, especially in plants treated with 300 mg/l tryptophan, followed by plants treated with 300 mg/l nicotinamide. Total carbohydrates (mg/g dry wt.), total soluble sugars (mg/g dry wt.), total insoluble sugars (mg/g dry wt.), proline (μmol/g dry wt.), and total phenolic compounds (mg/g dry wt.) in the leaves followed the same trend. Conclusion: It could be concluded that guar growth and yield are maximized with foliar treatment with nicotinamide (300 mg/l). Also, chemical constituents of seeds improved with nicotinamide and tryptophan treatments (each at 300 mg/l).